Upper Body Ab Exercises

By Craig Ballantyne
[Fitness]
These upper body exercises will work your abs just as hard as crunches.  Craig Ballantyne introduces you to some new methods.
The thought of having to do an additional 20 to 30 minutes of abdominal work after a regular workout can sometimes be enough to make you to skip the ab training altogether, but with these six upper body exercises, you'll gain all the benefits of a regular ab workout, without the extra time.

15 Minutes Ab And Upper Body Workout

This 15-minute upper body workout will not only build your arms, your chest and your back, but every one of these exercises is also going to work your abdominals.  So this workout will include, as I mentioned, six exercises, but they will be broken down into three supersets at five minutes each.

Superset #1:  Chin-Ups And Spiderman Push-Ups

The first superset pairs chin-ups with Spiderman push-ups.  Now, just because these aren't specific abdominal exercises, don't think your abs will walk away unscathed.  I remember a client once commenting a couple of days after doing the chin-up exercise that she was shocked that her abs were so sore.  With proper form, the chin-up exercise can very powerfully target your abs.

For proper form, begin in the dead hang position.  Now, keeping your body tight, brace your abs and pull your body up and chin over the bar, then in a controlled fashion, lower your body down.  You will noticeably feel this exercise working your lats and your biceps.  Perform enough repetitions until you’re one short of failure.  For example, if you can do 15 repetitions, then only do 14.

After the chin-up exercise, you will move into the Spiderman push-up.  In this exercise, you will get into a regular push-up position and then as you come down, bring your knee up to your elbow and back down.  Alternate sides.
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